CASSANDRE by Roland Mouron, Estate of A.M.CASSANDRE

LE SPECTACLE EST DAN LA RUE

‘THE STREET, the street of Paris, is undoubtedly one of the most prodigious spectacles imaginable. When you see today's life passing by, when you are caught up in its whirlwind, when you realise at every step that the buildings, the palaces, the shop windows and the shops are changing every day, that the cars, the aeroplanes, even the old railways and the gigantic ocean liners are renewing their shapes and colours at least once a year, that not only has the traditional decor of cities been transformed and turned upside down, but that even the manners, customs and habits of society are evolving at a new pace, so that for just a few decades now even the most homely city dweller has been driving, flying and travelling - it is legitimate to ask who are the instigators and architects of such a metamorphosis?

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A.M. Cassandre is one of these men, and I am grateful to him for having discovered in advertising the flower of contemporary life, for having understood that it was an affirmation of optimism and health, the warmest manifestation of the vitality of today's people, of their power, their childishness, their gift for invention and imagination; I am grateful to Cassandre for having been not only a painter, but above all one of the most fervent animators of modern life: the first director of LA RUE. ’

Blaise Cendrars, preface to 'Le Spectacle est dans la rue' by A.M.Cassandre, Draeger Frères, Paris, 1936